CALDWELL, N.J.- Caldwell University men's basketball sophomore
Mark Heber (Paterson, N.J.) netted a game-high 18 points as the Cougars overcame a first half power outage to edge nationally ranked #24/RV Dominican University of New York 67-66 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest.
The Cougars notch their fifth win in a row to improve to 13-7 overall and 9-2 in the CACC, while the Chargers fall to 15-4 and 7-3 in conference play.
The teams battled to a 9-9 tie at the 13:29 mark of the opening half before inclement weather in the area forced the game to be delayed for 31 minutes following a brief power outage on campus. When the game resumed, the Chargers pulled ahead 22-16 with 6:36 left in the opening half. The Cougars answered with a run as freshman
Kirk Parsons (Newark, N.J.) drained a triple at the 4:44 mark to put Caldwell in the lead at 28-25.
Dominican answered to retake the lead at 29-28 but Heber scored on the ensuing possession to put Caldwell back in front by one. The Chargers scored the next 12 points to pull ahead 41-30 with 1:12 remaining in the half. Freshman
Darnell Evans (Deer Park, N.Y.) drained two free throws in the final minute to cut the score to 41-32 at halftime.
Caldwell rallied back to start the second half as Heber drained a triple at the 13:21 mark to tie the score at 45. The game see-sawed back and forth over the final 12 minutes as Dominican would lead 52-47 near the midway point. The Cougars answered as freshman
Daniel Boateng (Fords, N.J.) drained a triple at the 8:30 mark to take a one-point lead at 54-53. The teams traded leads with the final tie coming with 2:07 on the clock at 63-63.
Heber scored in the paint to put Caldwell back in front 65-63. Sophomore
Jarnel Rancy (Middle Island, N.Y.) recorded two blocks over the final 1:21 to preserve the Cougars lead. Evans connected on two free throws to put the score to 67-63. Dominican added a free throw on their next possession and retained possession after missing the second shot. The Chargers failed to connect on three shots in the final 15 seconds before adding a lay-up put back with 0.6 on the clock. Caldwell tossed a long in-bounds pass to end the game with a huge victory over the nationally ranked Chargers.
Heber led the way with a game-high 18 points along with six rebounds. Parsons added 14 points, two boards and two assists, while Evans finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals. Rancy tallied 11 rebounds, five assists, four steals and eight blocks, setting the program NCAA-era single season record.
The Cougars start a three-game road swing as they travel to Chestnut Hill College on Saturday, January 28 for a CACC game at 3 pm.
